« Challenge to 3-strikes sentence strikes out | Main | Interesting motion for recusal at sentencing »
May 3, 2007
More great NJ drug sentencing work
As detailed in this New York Times article, the New Jersey Commission to Review Criminal Sentencing is about to release some important reports on drug sentencing in the Garden State. Here are excerpts from the Times article:
A state commission plans to recommend on Friday that New Jersey's therapeutic drug courts, which allow offenders to avoid jail by getting treatment, be expanded to include people with more than two previous offenses. A report by the New Jersey Commission to Review Criminal Sentencing said that 68 percent of offenders remained in their treatment programs in state drug court cases since 2002.
The report also calls on the State Legislature to give drug court judges more discretion in dealing with those who relapse, and for the courts to provide incentives and rewards like shortened probation and decreased court fees. "Our prisons are burgeoning with a population that cannot be helped or prevented from reoffending if substance abuse is not addressed in a comprehensive, community-based manner," the report said....
In a separate report, also to be released on Friday, the 15-member commission on criminal sentencing will recommend that the boundaries around schools, where there are mandatory penalties in New Jersey on convictions for drug possession or sales, be reduced to 200 feet from 1,000 feet.
UPDATE: An official press release and links to the new reports can now be found here.
May 3, 2007 at 07:00 PM | Permalink
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
https://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d83451574769e200d83534485869e2
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference More great NJ drug sentencing work:
Comments
Is it mandatory rehab for a third time drug offender? My son is incarcerated and I am a single parent and I do not have access to the money he needs to be bailed out. But I feel him being incarcerated would give him the better chance to get treatment for his illness. Am I correct in my thinking? He really needs help and it all started when he was adolescent and he fell thru the cracks and by the time his case was heard he had already turned adult (18).Me being a single parent (middle to low income) where I make slightly too much for any public assist for him (mental care)and not enough to pay out of pocket.Any suggestions?
Posted by: POTO(parent of the offender) | Oct 16, 2008 12:06:34 AM
